F-8G Crusader in German Navy Service

[PraetorH 166]

F-8G Crusader in Marineflieger-Service

(as usual, suggestions are welcome!)

 

What happened in Real Life

 

When the Luftwaffe looked for new aircraft in the late 50ies, it soon became apparent that it would either choose the F-104 Starfighter favoured by the Luftwaffe staff, or the Mirage III favoured by the secretary of defence for political reasons. Both of them however were dedicated nuclear options, and the Marine feared the nuclear armament of the Starfighter (or the Mirage) would lead to a subordination of the Marineflieger under Luftwaffe command and demote them to a nuclear auxiliary role. Worse, the Marineflieger in this conception would not participate in the naval war proper as envisioned by the Marine. The Marine thus was more than unhappy when the Starfighter was chosen and given to their air wings.

 

Non-nuclear options were explored, like the Italian G.91, but none of them materialized as the secretary of defence aimed for the standardization of all German fighters and fighter bombers. However the Marine successfully rejected the nuclear strike role of their Marineflieger.

 

 

Enter the F-8G Crusader

 

The Crusader was simpler than the F-104G while offering good performance, but it also had the stigma of being a carrier based aircraft with lots of dead weight when used from airfields on land. The Marine however had its long term plans for a small carrier battle group and thus the Crusader was a very good choice. In fact, as supersonic speed was the parole of the day, and the Marine did not want to stay behind the Luftwaffe in that regard, the Crusader was one of the few choices that could be made. When the French also picked the F-8 for their small carriers, the decision was made final. The Marine wanted only a few changes to the original F-8, identical to the French ones minus the need to carry indigenous or radar guided air to air missiles. Later on the F-8G Crusader was refitted to use AS.34 Kormorran anti-ship missiles. 

 

 

F-8G Crusader, MFG 1, 1976

(sporting Norm 76 naval aviation camouflage)

 

[Stratos 3,192]

I like it. And I think it would have done better than the F-104.

[PraetorH 166]

That is unlikely considering the problems with the Starfighter were mostly created by the incompetence of the German military that time, rather than by the Starfighter itself (although some of its flight characteristics did not help). Any sufficiently sophisticated, supersonic single engined plane would have had these problems - well maybe the Crusader would have fared a little better as it had simpler avionics.

 

As for air combat... I don't know, might be interesting to have duel between Starfighter and Crusader.